Life
by Tenelkajedinight
Summary: What happens to the gang durring season 2 after the WWII soldier's box is found. NathanXDaley pairing, possible EricXTaylor and JacksonXMelissa.
1. Chapter 1

Set just after the gang finds the soldiers things.

Morning

"The shelter's really coming along." Melissa said looking at the skeleton of the shelter, which consisted of a floor, and bamboo stalks in each corner.

"Yeah, just think how it'll look when it's done." Nathan said, tying another piece of bamboo in place.

"So have you told Da…?" Melissa stopped when Jackson came threw the bushes carrying another tree. He put it on the pile and walked back into the jungle.

"Have I told Daley what, Mel?" Nathan asked sitting down on the sand.

"That you like her" Melissa said grinning at her best friend.

"No, every time I try something all way's comes up." Nathan said frustrated. He really wanted to tell Daley he like her, not being able to was killing him.

"Well you'd better tell her soon," Melissa said getting up. "'Cause if you don't I will." Grinning at his expression she headed back to the fire.

Later

Daley walked over to the shelter carrying an armful of vines.

"Hey, Daley," Nathan said. "Could I um talk to you?"

"Sure what's up?" Daley asked sitting next to him.

"Well aha; you know since there's no um competition between us anymore, I was ah, wondering if maybe when we get back, you and me, if we could ah be more than friends?" He finally managed to choke out.

Daley sat in silence looking at Nathan who was turning red. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, trying to find the right words.

"Know what, never mind, it was stupid." Nathan said starting to get up.

"No wait." Daley said grabbing his arm. "I didn't know how to tell you but I was kinda thinking the same thing."

Now it was Daley's turn to blush.

"Really?" Nathan asked. "Well ah…" He stopped not knowing what to say next.

"But it has to wait until we get home." Daley said a hint of sadness in her voice. "I mean Jackson made the rule."

"But he's not the leader anymore." Nathan said excitedly. "Maybe we should just ask him."

"It's worth a shot."

Hand in hand they walked towards the jungle.

"Hey, Jackson," Nathan said walking up to where Jackson was cutting down more bamboo. "I was just wondering if, since you aren't the leader anymore, does the relationship rule still stand?"

Jackson was quiet for a few minutes. He knew sooner or later this would come up. Finally he said "Let's vote on it."

The three headed to the fire where Lex and Eric were sitting.

"Where are Taylor and Melissa?" Daley asked her brother.

"I think Taylor's on the beach." Lex said, "And Mel's getting water. Why?"

"We've got something to vote on." Nathan said.

"I'll get Taylor." Eric said.

Five minutes later Eric came back with Taylor and Mel was back from getting water.

"This had better be good." Taylor said sitting down on a log.

"It's about the relationship rule." Daley said. "Since Jackson's not the leader we think we should vote to see if the rule still stands."

"So who's in favor or keeping the rule?" Nathan asked. Jackson and Lex raided their hands. "Every one for dropping the rule?" Nathan, Daley, Melissa, Eric, and Taylor raised their hands.

"5 to 2 the rule goes." Nathan said smiling.


	2. Chapter 2

Jackson sat on the destroyed wing of the plane, staring out over the ocean. In his hands were the soldier's dog tags and letter.

Melissa came up and sat next to him. She looked at his face, solid, unreadable, they still needed that. The solid, not so much the unreadable. But his eyes were different, there was something that made them mysterious almost frightening. Like they were seeing more that was actually in front of them.

"What's the matter?" She asked. He didn't say anything.

"Is it about the way the vote went?" She asked. "Come on it can't be that bad."

"Trevor Gates." He muttered still staring out over the water.

"What, who's he?" Melissa asked.

"The soldier," He muttered.

She was quiet, waiting for him to go on.

"_There was always someone to lean on." _Jackson read off the letter. "We're a lot like the soldier's Mel. But we've got to deal with something they didn't."

"What?"

"Relationships."

"Come on what could happen?" She asked, he was sure being a stick in the mud about that.

"If there's a vote I'll bet anything Nathan and Daley will back each other up. If not they'll fight, then we'll be separated. It'll be like the election, they'll try and recruit people and then the whole group might divide." He looked right into he eyes. "And if that happens, we might die, like the soldier, like Trevor."

Melissa was quiet, letting Jackson's words sink in. As much as she didn't want to believe them, deep down she knew they were the truth.

"We won't die here." She said trying to sound positive. "Someone will find us. Besides we're sixteen, that guy was probably like fifty when he died."

"Nineteen, he was nineteen." Jackson whispered.

Once again Melissa was quiet.

"That's too young to die. He had a family, and they never knew what happened."

"Hey guy's what's up?" Nathan asked walking over hand in hand with Daley.

"Just talkin' about the soldier."

"He has a name Mel." Jackson said slightly angry. "Trevor Gates."

"What's your problem?" Nathan asked.

Jackson hopped off the plane wing looked Nathan square in the eye and said "He was my great uncle." Grabbing the dog tags and letter he walked down the beach.

Nathan and Daley looked at each other, eyebrows raised.

Melissa got up and started to follow him.

"Wait Mel, let him go." Nathan said.

Reluctantly Melissa nodded.

"Hey," Eric yelled. "Lex isn't gonna let us eat until you come up."

"Yeah hurry up I'm hungry!" Taylor complained.

The three headed up to get dinner.

"Where's Jackson?" Lex asked.

"He was down the beach," Nathan said.

"Do we have to wait for him?" Taylor asked. "I'm dying of hunger over here."

"Fine let's eat." Daley said.

Later that night

The sun was setting and Jackson still wasn't back.

"I'm getting worried." Mel said. "If he doesn't come back soon we should go look for him."

"He'll be back," Daley said. "It's probably harder for him now…"

"What," Eric interrupted her. "Hard that is dumb rule got the old ka-boot?"

"What got hit with a boot?" Taylor asked.

"Nothing," Daley said.

"So what's so hard to deal with?" Eric asked.

"You know that box we found?" Nathan asked.

"The soldier's box?" Lex asked.

"Yeah, will it turn's out that stuff belonged to his great uncle or something." Daley said.

"Seriously?" Lex asked, looking both excited and scared.

"What's the big deal," Taylor said. "I mean he never met the guy did he?" She looked at Eric "He'd be like a hundred or something."

Lex rolled his eyes "World War 2 happened in the 1930's-1940's not a hundred years ago."

"Ok skip the history lesson." Taylor said. "But he still never met the guy."

"No," Jackson said, he was standing just outside the glow of the fire. "But he was my granddad's brother. I remember grandpa telling me stories of how they went threw basic training together. They never thought they'd go to war, then Pearl Harbor. Grandpa was set to Spain. Uncle Trevor was sent to Japan, on the way his plane was shot down. This is where they crashed, this is where he died. Now that might happen to us, small world isn't it."


	3. Chapter 3

"Are we gonna die here?" Taylor asked looking around the fire slightly scared.

"No, relax we'll make it." Nathan said with more confidence than he felt, but Taylor seemed slightly reassured.

Melissa video diary

"Well, it's finally happened, relationships. I can't say I didn't see this coming, but still… I don't know if I should tell Jackson how I feel. I mean Eric and Taylor already played my tape but I wanna know how he feels about me. That's kinda mean I guess, I mean especially with the whole soldier thing but…" she yawned. "I think I'll sleep on it."

Next Morning

The seven were gathered around the fire. Nibbling on the last of the fruit.

"Guy's we've got a problem," Daley said. "We need to find more food."

"Where all the fruit got blown off the trees in the storm, did they magically grow more over night?" Eric asked sarcastically.

"No," Daley said. "But there might be roots that we can eat."

"She's right and there's still coconuts that we can get." Nathan said.

"And you're an expert on getting those aren't you Nathan." Eric said rolling his eyes.

"Hey I got them in the end."

"After you almost killed yourself." Taylor said. "I don't even like coconuts."

"Fine you and Eric can go get some oysters." Lex said.

"You mean sushi?" Taylor asked all excited.

"Uh, sure." Lex said rolling his eyes at Taylor.

Taylor got up and walked down the beach to the rocks where the oysters were. Eric ambled after her.

"Are you sure it was a good idea sending those two to get food by themselves?" Melissa asked.

Nathan laughed, "Yeah, they'll be fine. Come on Day, let's get some coconuts." They walked off towards the coconut trees.

"What about you?" Jackson asked Melissa.

"I guess I'm on water duty." She said looking at the empty jugs.

"I'll haul it for you if you want." He offered.

"Sure thanks."

"I think I'll go look for food," Lex said. "I read in a book that there are some roots you can eat and that there's bark that you boil in water and it makes a healing drink. We might need some of that."

"Great." Melissa said.

"Be careful," Jackson said picking up two of the water jugs.

Lex smiled and walked off towards the jungle.

"Look, I found another one!" Taylor shouted holding up an oyster.

"Great," Eric said from the beach. He had never seen any one who looked so good in a bikini get so excited over a little sea creature. Laughing Taylor came over and added the new oyster to the pile accumulating on the sand neat Eric.

"Hey, why don't you get some sea weed," Taylor said. "W can have a salad!"

"Great," Eric said again. "Hey we should move these away from the water, the tide's coming in." He bent down and picked up on the creatures.

"What are you doing?!" Taylor yelled, she ran over and tackled him.

They landed in the sand. With Taylor on top of Eric. "What?" Eric asked.

"Don't, don't you like die if you touch them?" Taylor asked confused.

"No I'm only allergic if I eat them." He said, looking into her blue eyes.

"Oh," She looked down and saw that she was still on top of him, she rolled to the side. "Sorry, but it was really scary when you almost died." She looked up at him.

_Are those tears?_ Eric thought._ Naw must be the light. _ "Sorry I scared you."

"Just don't do it again," Taylor said wiping at her eyes. "I don't want anyone to die."

"Hey, I won't die."

"Promise?"

Eric looked in her sparkling eyes and before his brain could say no he bent down and kissed her. For a second she almost pulled away then she relaxed.

"I promise." Eric said when the broke apart.

Taylor smiled and wrapped one arm around his neck and kissed him again.

Ugg I really don't like this chapter but; Eric and Taylor are officially an item. Yay! Happy dance time!


	4. Chapter 4

Melissa sat, braiding vines into stronger rope and waiting for the water to boil. Occasionally she would look out over the water and sigh. She still was debating whether or not to tell Jackson how she felt. She knew sooner or later she would have to tell him.

"Hey, you alright?" Jackson's voice came from behind her.

"Uh, yeah, sure fine." She lied.

Jackson shrugged and picked up two more jugs and walked away again.

_Why am I such a coward?_ Melissa asked herself. All she had to say was "Jackson I like you." Four simple words. So why couldn't she do it.

If she didn't someone could find out and then that person would have to keep a secret or they would have blackmail.

_Yeah, a lot of good that'll do them here._ She thought.

If she did tell him how she felt he might say that he didn't like her and well like Nathan said there wasn't a way to get away here.

"What's wrong?" Jackson asked sitting down right next to her.

She jumped, how did he sneak up on her?

"Nothing, nothings wrong."

"Don't lie." Jackson said shaking his head. "Come on something's wrong, the water's boiled almost to nothing and you haven't moved since I left.

Melissa sighed, no _point in beating around the bush_. "Jackson, I, I um, I like you." She stuttered out.

He was quiet, staring out over the ocean rather that at her.

"It's ok if you don't like me, I mean it's kind of weird an all but, um if you don't I understand." She said quickly.

"Hey, Mel, it's alright slow down." Jackson said. "It's just well…"

"You don't like me." She said softly.

"No, I do just not like I thing you think you like me. Oh, great now I sound like Taylor. I do like you, but more like friends, for now though I mean that could change you know but… Hey I'm sorry it's just that well…." God why couldn't he keep his mouth closed.

So he didn't like her, at least not in the way she did. She could tell he was trying to say something more but right now she didn't care.

"That's just fine." She said getting up and storming away.

_That's great, nice job Jackson._ Jackson scolded himself. _Nice way to hurt her, just like you didn't want._

F29DWN

"So how do we get them down?" Daley asked shielding her eyes against the sun as she looked at the coconuts up at the top of the tree.

"I could climb up." Nathan said.

"No you could get hurt, that's the last thing any of us need right now." Daley said. "Especially me, I don't want to see you hurt."

"Hey, alright, I won't climb the tree," Nathan said smiling at Daley's worried face. "So how are we gonna do this?"

"I've got an idea." Daley said smiling.

F29DWN

Lex walked threw the jungle looking for plants he'd read about. He stopped and sat on a log to rest. He looked around, his eyes stopping on something sticking out of the dirt. It couldn't be could it? He got up and uncovered the object. When he finally got the dirt off he couldn't believe his eyes. He grabbed it and headed back to camp.

F29DWN

Melissa sat in the sand away from the fire, away from _him_. She sighed resting her chin on her knees. Why was life so confusing? Why did they have to be stuck on this island in the first place? Why didn't Jackson like her? So many questions so few answers.

She closed her eyes against the tears.

Jackson sat by the fire thinking. He did like Melissa but he was afraid of hurting her. He'd seen too many relationships like that. He ran his fingers threw his hair. He wished he could tell her the truth about his parents, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. It still hurt him to think about it, how could he say it?

He came to a decision. Standing up he headed down the beach to where Melissa was sitting.

"Hey," He said. "I know you must be mad at me, with good reason too. It's just I don't really… I don't know if I can…" God, how come when he wanted to say something he couldn't? "I don't want to hurt you." He finally spat out.

Melissa turned around to face him. "Why? What make you think that?"

"I've just, well, seen some things." He said looking into her eyes. "Things that scared me."

"Like what?" she asked.

Jackson looked at the sky then fiddled with the cross around his neck. "I can't tell you." He whispered, his eyes falling to the sand. "Not yet. I will tell you."

"I'm always ready to listen." Melissa said.

"I'll tell you. I promise." He leaned forward and kissed her cheek.

F29DWN

The six older kids were sitting around the fire, eating the coconuts Nathan and Daley got and the oysters Eric and Taylor got. They had just finished when Lex came running up to the fire.

"What's wrong?"

"Where were you?"

"What took so long?"

"Did you get lost?"

"Did you find rescue?"

"Did you find the others?"

"No, I found this." Lex said putting something down next to the fire. It was another box, from World War II.

So what do you think? What's in the box? What's up with Eric and Taylor? What's up with Jackson? And how did Nathan and Daley get the coconuts down?


	5. Chapter 5

"What's in it?" Taylor asked as they gathered around the box.

"Be careful," Lex said, "There might be old ammo in it."

"That's what you said about the other one." Eric said bending down to look at the box. He gently kicked at it with his foot, something rattled inside.

"Hey what are you doing?" Nathan asked pushing Eric away from the box. "If its ammo and you kick it well… let's just not go there."

"Yeah, let's just leave it alone." Melissa said backing away from the box.

"But what if it's something we can use?" Eric asked. "Like another knife, or a lighter or something? I say we vote on it."

"Eric's right." Daley said, "We vote. Who wants to open the box?"

Eric, Taylor, Daley, and Nathan raised their hands.

"Who doesn't want to open it?"

Lex, Jackson and Melissa raised their hands.

"Hah, four to three," Eric said "Let's open it."

Everyone stared at the box that was still lying on the sand.

"Um how do we open it?" Taylor asked, looking at everyone.

Nathan bent down and picked up Jackson's big knife and stuck it under the latch. He pulled down on the knife and up on the latch, and the lid popped open. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, nothing blew up.

"What's in it?" Daley asked leaning over Nathan's shoulder.

Nathan put his hand in the box and pulled out a book. He handed it to Daley.

"It's a diary." She said.

"There's more," Nathan said he handed a stack of unopened letters to Melissa, a flask to Lex and an old knife to Eric.

"Who'd diary is it?" Melissa asked.

"A soldier named Andrew Davis," Daley said turning the pages of the old book carefully. "_April 3, we've been here four day's now, there hasn't been any kind of rescue. Not ships or planes or anything. Most of they guys are scared, even though they try not to show it. Most of the guys are young, 19, 20, and 21. None of us want to die here but we're running out of food, and water. No one's saying it but we're all thinking we're gonna die here. Most of the guys have started writing letters and stuff and putting them in these boxes we found. I anyone ever comes here they'll know we were here. Well the suns almost set; I'm pulling watch with one of the young guns, Trevor, in a few hours, so I'd better rest up. Write more later_."

Daley stopped reading and closed the book. Everyone was quiet, even Taylor.

"So what do we do with this stuff?" Melissa asked quietly, looking at the stack of letters in her hands.

"We should put them in the box," Lex said. "When we get home we can give them to the soldier's family."

"If we get home," Eric said.

"Hey look on the bright side," Nathan said. "There might be something in this book that can help us so we can get home."

"He's got a point," Melissa said. "And now we've got another knife."

Lex yawned, by now the sun was gone and the fire was dying down.

"Well," Eric said getting up and stretching. "I'm hitting the old sleeping bag."

Everyone nodded and headed to the tent.

"Hey, you coming?" Melissa asked Jackson who was still sitting on a log.

"I'll be there in a minute, I'm just gonna put some more wood on the fire."

Melissa nodded; she put the letters in the box next to the journal and went into the tent.

Jackson threw more wood on the fire then with one last look at the box headed into the tent.

F29DWN

"Eric, wake up." Taylor whispered. "Come on Eric."

Eric opened his eyes and blinked until Taylor came into focus. "Morning, did you sleep well?"

"Yeah," Taylor said snuggling closer to him.

"Eric, Taylor come on get up." Daley said sticking her head into the tent. "We've go things to do."

Eric rolled his eyes, making Taylor laugh. They both go up and stumbled out of the tent.

Everyone else was up. Nathan and Lex were tying braided string to the shelter. Melissa was braiding. Daley was washing cloths. And judging by the stead thumping noise Jackson was cutting down trees.

"Come on Eric," Nathan said seeing the two sleepy-heads finally emerge from the tent. "We need water."

"All right," Eric said grabbing two jugs. "Don't get you're undies in a bunch."

"Taylor, the batteries are getting low, you need to charge them." Daley said.

Groaning Taylor took the charger and batteries to the beach.

F29DWN

Eric had filled all the water jugs and was waiting for Melissa to boil the water so he could get more. To kill the time he went and sat by Taylor on the beach.

"Hey," He said.

"Hey, are you done hauling water all ready?" Taylor asked.

"Naw, there' no more jugs." Eric said. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Taylor lied.

"You're lying, come on you can tell me." He said putting his arm around her.

"I'm afraid, Eric." She said, looking tearfully at him. "What if we die here?"

"Hey, come on," He said wrapping his other arm around her. "We wont die, I all ready told you."

"I know, but hearing you say it… it just makes me feel better." She said.

Eric leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. "It'll be ok."

F29SWN

"Has anyone seen the journal?" Daley asked.

"Didn't you put it in the box last night?" Lex asked.

"I thought I did," Daley said looking threw the letters. "But it's not here."

"It probably fell out." Nathan said, walking over to help Daley look for it.

"I'll check the tent." Lex said.

"I'll go ask Jackson." Melissa said heading towards the jungle.

Melissa walked to where Jackson had been cutting trees, he wasn't there. There was another less used trail heading to the right so she followed it. It led to a smaller clearing; Jackson was sitting on a log shoulder hunched. Quietly Melissa walked up behind him.

"Hey," She said quietly.

"Oh, hey," He said jumping a little at her voice.

"Daley's looking for the journal. Do you have it?"

"What? Oh, yeah, I do." He handed her the book.

"What's wrong?" She asked sitting down next to him.

"I just wanted to know how he died." He whispered.

"And did you?"

Jackson nodded and took the book, opened it and gave it back.

"_May 15. I can't believe we've lasted this long, but we have. I guess all that training we went threw was good for something. But now things are going bad. Gates got caught in a storm yesterday and hasn't stopped coughing since. _

_May 17. Gates took a turn for the worse last night. He won't last much longer._

_May 21. He died last night. Me and Jenkins were in the tent with him. One minute he was telling us about his brother the next he was thrashing about then he was gone."_

Melissa stopped reading and looked at Jackson. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be, we would have found out sooner or later." He muttered staring at the ground. "It just makes it all scarier, I mean he got caught in a storm, and he died. That could happen to any of us."

Melissa was quiet, the book still open in her hands. Jackson rubbed his face and stood up.

"I'm going for a walk." He said and walked out of the clearing.

For a second Melissa considered following him but then decided against it. He'd talk when he was ready. Sighing she headed back to camp.


	6. Chapter 6

Guess I forgot about this: I don't own Flight 29 Down. I just watch it on Saturday mornings.

"Here," Melissa said handing Daley the journal.

"Thanks, where was it?"

"Jackson had it; he was reading about his uncle."

Daley looked at the journal, how many more soldiers deaths were recorded in it? Suddenly she didn't want to read it anymore.

"Hey what's up?" Nathan asked walking over to the girls.

"Just thinking," Daley said.

Nathan looked at her and said quietly, "About what?"

Melissa looked at the two and quietly left.

"What were you thinking about?"

"Melissa said Jackson was reading how his uncle or who ever died, how many more soldiers were there? Are we going to find anymore of these box things? Are we going to make it off this island?" She sat down and put here head in her hands. "Nathan I'm scared."

"Hey," Nathan said sitting down next to her. "It's all right to be scared. I'm scared too, everyone is. But that's a good thing; it makes us think twice before we do something."

"You didn't think twice before you climbed that tree." Daley said smiling.

"Yeah, well that was a while ago, when we just got here. Now I've got an even better reason to think twice."

"What?" Daley asked.

"You." Nathan said bending over he kissed her.

F29DWN

Jackson walked through the woods thinking. He still couldn't believe that his uncle had been stuck here too.

_Wait till I tell grandpa._ He thought, smiling, that smile disappeared faster than it came. His grandpa had practically disowned his mom when Jackson was six. That was the worst time in his live. Jackson's mom had finally decided to marry his dad, after living with the man for seven years. His grandpa didn't approve of the marriage and told her not to do it. Jackson could still hear the last words his grandpa ever said. "Suzan Gates I forbade you to marry this urchin. But you did, you disobeyed me, I hope you know what you're getting into."

Then he left, and neither Jackson nor his mom has heard from him again. Jackson sighed; he didn't even know if his grandpa was still alive.

"Shit, oww." Jackson said he hadn't been paying attention and tripped over a root and twisted his ankle. He dislodged his ankle and sat up. Where was he?

Damn, he'd done this before, wandering around with his head somewhere else. Only last time he had wound up in a nasty L.A. neighborhood.

_Well at least no one's going to shoot you._ Jackson thought standing up. _Better head back the way I came._

Slowly he started limping back to camp.

F29DWN

Everyone had gathered by the fire. Taylor was sitting next to Eric, her head on his shoulder. Nathan and Daley were sitting holding hands. Lex was tinkering with the sketch of the shelter, muttering to himself and constantly erasing what he drew.

"Has anyone seen Jackson?" Melissa asked.

"Not since this morning." Daley said.

"Yeah, I thought he was cutting down trees or something." Eric said looking over Taylor's head.

"He was then he went off by himself after I got the journal from him." Melissa said.

"That was this morning?" Nathan asked.

"Yeah, and he's not back yet." Melissa said. "Maybe we should go look for him."

"He's a big boy he can take care of himself." Eric said. "If we just wait a while he'll turn up."

"Fine you wait here." Melissa said. "I'm going to look for him."

"I'll go with her." Lex said, happy to leave the sketching behind.

"We'll go too." Nathan said, helping Daley to her feet.

They walked to the clearing where Jackson had been cutting down trees that morning.

"All right, Daley and I'll go west, Melissa and Lex, you go east." Nathan said. "If we don't find him by dark come back to camp."

The others nodded and headed off.

F29DWN

Jackson limped through the jungle, trying not to think about his ankle, his family or Melissa. That didn't leave a whole lot to think about, but that was good, the last think he needed was to get lost again. He stood for a second and listened. He thought he had heard waves. He did, through the leaves and vines he could see the ocean. Smiling he headed to the beach.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own Flight 29 Down

"Jackson!" Melissa yelled walking through the jungle with Lex. "Where are you?"

"Do you know what way he went after you talked to him?" Lex asked.

Melissa shook her head.

"We'll find him don't worry." Lex said.

They kept on walking though the jungle, calling for Jackson.

F29DWN

"Why would he go off by himself?" Daley asked as she and Nathan walked through the jungle. "That's just stupid. I mean what if he gets hurt?"

"Daley, don't worry we'll find him," Nathan said smiling at the worry in her eyes. "You know, you look really cute when you're worried."

"Nathan this is serious." Daley said, trying not to smile.

"Well then what are we doing let's find him." Nathan said taking Daley's hand he led her further into the jungle.

F29DWN

"Eric, I'm board." Taylor wined for the umpteenth time since the others had left.

"What do you wanna do?" Eric asked for the umpteenth time.

"I donno."

"Do you wanna go for a walk?"

"No."

"Do you wanna go swimming?"

"I suppose we could." Taylor said taking off here pink tank top revealing a polka-dotted bikini top. "Last one in the water's a rotten egg!"

"Hey, no fair, you got a head start!" Eric yelled taking off his own shirt and running after her.

"Ha, I win!" Taylor said standing knee deep in the surf.

"Oh, yeah?" Eric ran over, picked her up and threw her into the deeper water.

Taylor came up sputtering. "Hey that wasn't very nice." She started stopping to the beach. Before she could get there Eric stopped her and kissed her.

"Does that make it all better?" He asked.

"No, but this might." She said kissing him back.

F29DWN

Melissa kept walking through the jungle, Lex had turned back a while ago she was by herself.

_Am I hearing things?_ She thought. _I could have sworn I heard waves._ Listening hard she turned towards the sound and soon she was standing on a stretch of beach. She looked around; there were footprints in the sand.

"Hello?" She called quietly. "Is anyone there?"

When no one answered she stared following the tracks down around a small grove of trees. When she came around them she gasped. On this stretch of beach were…. shelters.

In awe Melissa walked towards the shelters. They were made of wood and bits of metal. There were six of them, arranged in a half circle around a fire pit. She wandered around, wondering who built these shelters. She walked around each shelter, wondering who built them, how old they were, and what could possibly be living in them now? As she walked around the last shelter she saw a figure sitting on the sand. Melissa gasped, who was it? She took a few cautious steps forward then realized it was Jackson.

"Hey," Melissa said when she got closer.

Jackson nodded, still staring out at the water.

"Are you all right?" Melissa asked kneeling down next to him. "It's okay, you don't have to tell me."

"Reverse physiology," Jackson said. "Very clever."

"It works with my sister." Mel said blushing. "But I guess it won't work with you."

Jackson nodded.

"Well, do you want to head back to camp?" Melissa asked.

Jackson shrugged, and then nodded. "Hang on I want you to see something."

He limped off towards the trees.

"Jackson are you all right?" Melissa asked. "You're limping."

"I twisted my ankle. Come on." He led her threw the trees to a clearing. Melissa gasped; the circular clearing was a graveyard. 21 wooded crosses with names carved in them were pounded into the ground.

"Wow," Mel whispered, she turned looking at all of them. "Is….?"

"Yeah," Jackson said he pointed to a cross towards the back of the last half circle. "He was the first."

"I'm sorry."

"Can't do anything about it now." Jackson said. "It's in the past."

She studied his face and saw tears forming in his blue/gray eyes. She went over and hugged him. "It's all right."

Jackson stepped away wincing as he stepped on his sore ankle "It's not though, I can see this happening to us Mel, it scares me."

"It scares me too," Mel said.

They stood staring at the crosses for a while. "Come on it's getting late, we'd better head back." Melissa said looking at the setting sun.

Jackson shook his head. "We won't make it back before dark."

"We could just stay in one of these huts."

"That's what I was thinking." Jackson said leading the way back to the huts.

F29DWN

"Where are they?" Daley asked looking out the tent flap.

"They'll be fine." Eric said from where he was sitting with Taylor practically on his lap.

"Hey," Nathan said quietly, pulling her away from the flap down next to him. "It'll be all right, we'll go look for them tomorrow."

"I know, but what if one of them is hurt, what if it rains, what it…."

"Daley," Nathan interrupted her, "If you 'what if' anymore…"

"Sorry I can't help it." She said smiling worriedly at him

"Nathan's right Day, they'll be fine." Lex said, yawning. "I'm going to sleep, night everyone."

"Night Lex," Daley said. "I think I'll turn in too," She crawled into her sleeping bag and closed her eyes.

Eric and Taylor had already fallen asleep in each other's arms. Sighing Nathan lay down next to Daley.

"Night Daley," He said kissing her cheek.

**Just wanted to say thank-you to everyone who reviewed**


	8. Chapter 8

**I don't own Flight 29 Down**

Jackson headed to the nearest shelter and stepped up onto the platform.

"Jackson, wait, what if there's someone living in it?" Melissa asked, slightly afraid that there would be a dead body laying in one of the beds.

"There's not," Jackson said pulling on a piece of rope that served as a door handle. The piece of medal that served as a door opened noiselessly. Nervously Melissa followed him in.

"See," He said looking around the hut. Two army cots were set up on opposite sides of the room with a crudely made table between them, other than that there was nothing in the hut.

"But what if some of the soldiers are sill alive and they come in the middle of the night?" Melissa asked, staying near the door. "I mean didn't the letter say there was like 25 guys or something like that?"

"There were 23," Jackson said, turning to face her. "21 are in that cemetery, and the other two are skeletons…" Jackson stopped

Melissa put a hand over her mouth, "No, where?"

"Down the beach a little bit." Jackson said sitting down on one of the bunks, glad to take the weight off his ankle.

"Jackson what if that happens to us?" Melissa asked, tears running down her face.

"It won't," Jackson said confidently, looking directly at her for the first time.

"How do you know?" Melissa asked, sitting on the other cot, tears now poring down her face. "How can you not be scared that it might?"

Jackson didn't say anything.

"How can you just sit there?" Melissa asked, the tears had stopped flowing, and she was getting angry. "How can you not feel anything for any of us? We care about you don't you realize that?" Melissa was screaming by now. "You just sit there not giving us any kind of sign! No wonder all the kids said stuff about you at school!"

"You didn't."

"That's because I didn't know you yet." Melissa said, no longer screaming, but still talking fairly loudly. "Now I do, you're just a coward; you run away from problems and don't let people near you because you're afraid of being hurt!" Melissa sat back down on the cot; she didn't even remember standing up.

Jackson looked at her, his eyes still bank and sighed. "I promised I'd tell you and now look's like it's the time." Jackson was quiet, thinking where to start. "Despite what everyone thinks I did have a decent life when I was younger. Up until I was bout seven everything was fine, dad had a good job and mom wasn't umm… having issues yet. Then that summer everything changed. My sister was killed in a car accident." Melissa gasped, fresh tears coming to her eyes. "She was coming home from kindergarten with a friend, a drunk driver crossed the median and hit the van, she died instantly."

"What was her name?" Melissa asked quietly.

"Anna," Jackson said even quieter, "That's when everything went down the drain. Dad got angry and well, he started going to the bars more often. Mom started getting depressed and taking "happy pills" all the teachers in school thought something was wrong with me so they started sending me to the counselor, she referred me to a physiologist. They pry into everything, that's when I started just not caring. By the time I was ten dad was an alcoholic."

Jackson stopped and shook his head. "Funny a drunk driver killed Anna, now he's one. Mom was out of it more often than not, I was hanging out with some shady kids. By the time I was twelve, dad was hitting mom, mom didn't care if she lived or not, and I was about an inch away from juvie. Then dad just up and left, just like that he was gone."

"Where'd he go?" Melissa asked.

"Donno, don't care, he never cared about me. I was pretty much living on my own, mom made money with drugs; looking back I can't even believe it. I was thirteen when she got caught. The Department of Social Services sent me to a foster home. But I was labeled as a "problem child" so no one ever wanted me long. I wound up at Mrs. Schaffer's and Hartwell, and here I am now."

"Jackson I'm sorry," Melissa said sitting next to him. "I didn't know, I shouldn't have said those things."

"Doesn't matter, it's done." Jackson said, he looked out the door, the sun was gone and stars were out. "I'm gonna get some rest."

"Good idea," Melissa said bending down to take off her shoes. "Hey do you think we should move here, I mean there's already shelter and stuff."

"We'd have to find water." Jackson said unlacing his boot.

"We'll bring everyone tomorrow when we get back." Melissa said, "Hey it's like sleeping in a real bed!"

Jackson nodded.

"Night, Jackson."

"Night Mel."


	9. Chapter 9

**Still don't own Flight 29 Down**

Nathan woke up and looked around; Eric and Taylor were sleeping in each other's arms. Daley was next to him and Lex was on her other side. It took Nathan's brain a minute to register that there were two people missing. He hung his head, he was hoping that Melissa and Jackson would turn up sometime during the night, but they hadn't. Quietly he crawled out of his sleeping bag and out of the tent.

The sun had just barley risen when Nathan got the fire started. He kept looking down the beach, hoping that Mel and Jackson would come walking down it, but they didn't. What it they had gotten hurt? What would he do? Melissa was like a sister to him, and Jackson, well Jackson was, well he was always there.

"Hey," Daley said sitting down next to him.

Nathan smiled and put an arm around her. "Hey."

"It's all right, we'll find them." Daley said.

"I don't know what'd happen if we lost them," Nathan said staring out over the ocean.

Daley laid her head on his shoulder, "We'll find them."

They sat like that until Lex walked out of the tent. He looked over at them and sighed, great they were having a "moment." He turned and walked towards the garden.

Nathan and Daley watched him leaving. "What's wrong with Lex?" Nathan asked.

"I donno," Daley said "I'll go find out." She got up and headed towards the garden.

She found Lex watering the tomatoes. "Hey," She said walking over. "The garden looking good."

"Thanks." He muttered moving on to the peppers.

"What's wrong?" Daley asked.

"It's just every time I see you you're with Nathan." Lex said shrugging.

"Does that bother you?" Daley asked. "Because if it does tell me alright?"

Lex nodded and moved onto the squash that looked like they'd be ready any day now.

"Hey, you'd tell me if something's wrong, wouldn't you?" Daley asked.

"Of course Day," Lex said smiling at his sister.

"Great, well I'm gonna go get some fruit for breakfast, and then we'll go look for Mel and Jackson."

Lex nodded.

"Great see you back at camp." Smiling she headed back down the path.

Lex sighed; he hadn't seen Daley this happy since they'd crashed. He didn't want to spoil it for her by saying that he didn't want her to be with Nathan. But seeing them together all the time made him feel almost invisible. He finished water the garden and headed back to the camp.

F29DWN

"Morning beautiful," Eric said smiling as Taylor woke up. "How'd ya sleep?"

"Lousy," Taylor groaned sitting up, "The sooner they get that shelter built the better."

"Tell me about it, Nathan snores louder than my dad, and he's the king of snoring."

"Thanks for sharing." Taylor said smiling at him. A month ago if someone told her that she would be falling in love with the class clown she would have laughed, now here she was sitting alone in a tent with his arms around her. And they were alone.

"Eric, Taylor come on we know you're up." Nathan's voice came through the fabric of the tent.

Groaning the two slowly made their way out of the tent.

"Come on; as soon as you two finish eating we're gonna go look for Melissa and Jackson." Daley said.

"Wait, their not back yet?" Eric asked his voice slightly high with worry.

Nathan shook his head.

"Lex, you come with Daley and me, we'll go into the jungle. Eric and Taylor, you walk along the beach. If we don't find them by noon-ish, come back to camp. Got it?" Nathan directed.

Eric and Taylor nodded, picking up a small pack each they headed down the beach.

Nathan gave them one last look before following Daley and Lex into the jungle.

F29DWN

Melissa lay on her side facing the open space between to two cots. Jackson lay away from her facing the wall. The sun was up and they were still in their cots. It was probably the latest they had slept since the crash. Although the cots were more comfortable than anything else she'd slept on recently Melissa couldn't sleep. She kept on thinking about what Jackson had told her last night. How all that had happened to him and he was still the strongest (emotionally) of the group.

Sure Daley's mom had died and Lex's dad had left him and his mom. Their families found each other and were whole. Jackson lost his sister, mom, and dad, she couldn't figure out how he kept on going. She had been devastated for weeks when her grandmother died. She sighed and watched his sleeping form sill wondering about all the mysteries that still lurked around him and his past.

Jackson pretended to be asleep. He knew Melissa was watching him, just like everyone else did when they found out about Anna. He missed her every day, her smile, her laugh, the way the smallest thing made her excited. But she was gone; there was nothing he could do about it, so why stress about the past. The sooner everyone here learned not to stress about the past the better off they'd be. He closed his eyes and surprisingly drifted back off to sleep.

F29DWN

"Eric can we turn around yet?" Taylor asked as she and Eric walked down the beach.

"Let's just go around this bay." Eric said pointing to where the beach stuck out into the water.

"All right," Taylor sighed, it didn't look that far away.

So they walked down the beach, hand in hand.

Eric chuckled. "Who would have thought we'd ever be holding hands?"

"I know it wasn't me." Taylor said smiling. "I would never have thought that I'd be with someone like you."

"Thanks, that's a real moral booster." Eric drawled.

"Fine, you don't like being with _me_," Taylor said, letting go of his hand. "Than I don't wanna be with you." She turned and stomped down the beach.

Eric shrugged and kept walking the other way, muttering to him self. "Three…two…. one."

On queue Taylor came running up behind him, and jumped on his back. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it."

"I know, babe," Eric said hugging her. "I know."

They kept on walking until they came around the small peninsula.

"Holy cow," Taylor said.

"Am I dreaming or are those…"

**There ya go, sorry I haven't updated in a while, and life's been kinda hectic lately with two jobs, bowling and school. Now that it's holiday break I'll prolly update more. Thanks for all the reviews.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Don't own Flight 29 Down**

"So Lex, how long until the garden's ready?" Nathan asked the younger boy as they walked trough the dense jungle.

Lex was quiet for a second; he hadn't expected Nathan to ask him something, he'd been more attention to Daley than him on their search. "Um, I think the squash will be ready in a few days, then the corn and then the tomatoes and peppers."

"Cool," Nathan said, turning his attention to the path in front of them.

The three walked on for about another hour before Daley checked her watch. "Oh no, it's after noon, we'd better head back."

"Yeah, Eric and Taylor are probably back at camp." Nathan said. "Let's cut through the woods here, I think I see the beach, it'll be easier walking through sand than all this."

The other two agreed and soon they were on the beach.

"Holy crap." Nathan said when they broke through the tree line. "Are you seeing this?"

"Yeah, I think," Daley said walking towards the huts.

"This is so cool!" Lex said.

F29DWN

"Eric!! Look houses!!!" Taylor shouted running towards the huts. Then she stopped, did a 360 and ran back to Eric. "What if there's something, or someone in them? You go first."

"Me why me?" Eric asked.

"Because, you're the guy, I'm the girl." Taylor said in her I-can't-believe-he-just-said-that voice.

"Fine," Eric sighed cautiously he started walking to the huts, Taylor close behind him.

"Hey," He said when they could see around one of the huts."

"What?" Taylor asked crouching behind Eric. "Is it a ghost?"

"No, it's Nathan and Daley." Eric said, he cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted. "Hey, we're over here!"

F29DWN

"What was that?" Lex asked when he heard Eric's yell.

"I don't know." Nathan said taking a cautious step to the right. "It's Eric and Taylor, come on."

"Hey, did you find them?" Daley asked when they got closer to the other two.

"No, you?" Eric asked.

Nathan shook his head.

"Hey!" They heard someone shout from the hut on the other side of the semi-circle.

"Melissa!!" Daley shouted.

"Is Jackson with you?"

"How long have you been here?"

"Did you build these?"

"Yeah, Jackson's with me, we stayed the night here. And no Taylor we didn't build them." Melissa said when they got to the hut.

"Where his he?" Daley asked.

"Right here." Jackson said walking out of the hut. "So what do you think of just living in these?"

"I think it's a great idea." Nathan said.

"Let's vote." Taylor said. "All in favor of moving out of the smelly shoebox raise your hand."

Everyone raised their hand.

"Is there a water source near by?" Lex asked.

"We'll have to look but I think there is." Melissa said. "The soldiers lived here for a while by the looks of it so there's got to be."

"Are we going to sleep in separate huts?" Nathan asked.

"I think girls should be in one, and boys in another." Melissa said. "Then we can use one for storage, then I don't know about the others."

"Sounds good," Daley said. "We could move one of the huts next to another then take down the center walls and have one big hut, like a meeting room."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, let's just see if there's a water source first." Eric said. "That sounds like a whole lotta work."

"I have to agree with him." Taylor said. "That's like moving a house."

"Fine, we'll split up and look for water." Nathan said, "Mel and Jackson, Taylor and Eric, and Lex, Daley and me."

Everyone nodded and head off in different directions.

F29DWN

Melissa and Jackson walked through the woods directly behind the huts. Every now and then Jackson caught Melissa looking at him.

Finally he stopped. "What?"

She jumped in surprise, "Nothing, why?" she asked looking away form him.

He raised his eyebrows. "It's about what I told you last night, right."

Again Melissa didn't say anything.

Jackson sighed; it was like this every time he told someone. "It's alright; I've accepted that everything happened. I can't change the past."

"But how can you just go on with your life?" Melissa asked, tears forming in her eyes.

Jackson shrugged. "I just did."

"I wish I could have done that when my grandmother died." Melissa said quietly, tears rolling down her face.

Jackson didn't know what to say, they walked in silence for a while.

"Look Mel." Jackson said pointing to a clearing. They walked into it.

"Wow," Melissa said. A fairly large creek was running into the clearing. There was a small waterfall at the other end of the clearing, with the water gathering into a pool about fifteen feet in diameter.

They walked to the pool and watched the falling water.

"This is it." Jackson said quietly.

"Yeah, we have water." Melissa said.

"No, this, things like this, this is how I get on with life." Jackson said. "Beautiful things like this that make life seem so simple."

Melissa nodded, although she couldn't believe that someone who looked as tough as Jackson would ever be saying something like that.

"There's always something good that comes from bad." Jackson said turning to face her. "I got put in foster care, and then sent to Hartwell that was the bad."

"So what was the good?" Melissa asked.

"I met you." He said leaning forward he softly kissed her.

_Oh. My. God._ Melissa thought as Jackson's lips touched hers.

"Melissa, I love you."

**There ya go. Thank you for hangin' in with me through 9 chaps before Mel and Jackson hooked up. I had planned it to happen later but I though now was a good time, so… hope you like it. Again thanks for all the reviews. **


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